Council supports rejuvenation plan

Phase 1/1A

Corner of George and Queen

Queen Street entrance

Brampton City Council has given staff the green light to negotiate a final contract for an unprecedented multi-phased city hall expansion and downtown rejuvenation plan.

Vivid, colourful artists concept drawings of what the development will look like from the street greeted the approximately 90 residents who attended the special council meeting Monday night to consider the proposal by Dominus Construction Group.

Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell said she had all the answers she needed, and the questions that aren’t answered will be when the contract is negotiated and comes back to council for final approval.

“We need to figure this out with minimal to no tax increase,” she pledged.

Calling it a “watershed moment”, Fennell said she has listened carefully to everything that was said by eight delegations, some who supported the plan, others who were critical of it.

Fennell said she has gotten spontaneous and positive feedback from residents who have seen the proposal.

In a strange twist, the councillors who pushed the issue forward last year were the ones who voted against the proposal. Councillors Elaine Moore, John Sanderson and Grant Gibson opposed the plan, asking for a deferral of the decision to find out more information and to have more public input.

The rest of council voted in favour in a recorded 7-3 vote— except for Councillor Bob Callahan, who was away on vacation.

He said the city needs the administration space, so he supported the Phase 1/1A plan in particular.

Wards 2 & 6 Regional Councillor Paul Palleschi also said the proposal is exciting, particularly the use of city-owned land, which avoids potentially costly and difficult expropriation.

He said, now that he has seen both proposals and the costs, he is satisfied and “prepared to go to the next steps.”

A motion to defer the decision was supported by only four councillors. Six voted to make a decision at the special council meeting that started at 6:30 p.m. and went to midnight. One— Councillor Bob Callahan— was absent on vacation.

The doubters became the supporters, praising the proposal and saying they were excited about it, and those who pressed the issue forward were the ones who voted for a deferral of the decision saying they were concerned about finances and cost.

Moore wanted to defer the decision. She said she saw no difference between the 2005 original call for expressions of interest and this most recent process.

“For me, I’m kind of disappointed because it seems like we wasted six years and at the end of the day I’m not sure we are any further ahead,” she said.

Both Moore and Sanderson admitted they made a mistake approving the RFP process that had never been used in Canada, but has been used in Europe.

They also both indicated they were not impressed with the Dominus proposal.

Sanderson said he also wanted a deferral, for more time to “educate the citizens that I represent.”

“I am seriously concerned about the cost of this project,” Moore said. “It’s not the signature building I’d hoped to see. It’s not on the southwest quadrant.”

She said she wanted to ensure “that we can afford it” and said she is not clear on the numbers.

“For every penny we pay too much on this project is money we can’t reinvest...If we pay too much on Phase 1, we’ll never get to Phase 2 and 3,” she said.

“If we can just take a step back, have some sober second thought...”

Wards 7 & 8 Councillor Sandra Hames noted she was the only councillor to vote against an RFP, “because we had no money.”

But she said she has been convinced by the proposal.

“I was actually extremely pleased. I think it’s brilliant, it’s brilliant. We’re going to do four buildings in downtown Brampton instead of one building that empties every night,” she said.

Regional Councillor Gael Miles said she feels the city will be able to pay for it.

Phase 1 and 1A would be built first and ready for occupancy by 2014. The city will lease-to-own over 25 years, paying no more than $8.2 million a year up to no more than $205 million in total. The cost to Dominus to build is $94 million and the city would own the building in 2039, but Dominus would keep the retail space.

It is estimated in 2011 dollars that Phase 2 could be built for $86 million and Phase 3 would be $71 million, but the cost to the city has not been worked out because council did not specify a timeline for when those projects would be needed or should be built. By approving Phase 1/1A, city councillors have not committed to a contract to build Phases 2 and 3.

The Dominus proposal will see the city joining with the strategic partnership of Fernbrook, Cityzen, Dominus Group and Zeidler Partnership Architects.

The Absolute Towers in Mississauga, the L Tower (re-development of the Sony Centre) in Toronto, and Pier 27 in Toronto are other Dominus projects.

The plan received support from the Brampton Board of Trade and the Brampton Downtown Development Corporation at the meeting.

Board of Trade President Stephen Rhodes said he is concerned about the cost and how the city will pay for the development, but he said the board supports the proposal “because we feel it’s time to get moving,” he said. He said the plan is exciting, and the board has “no quarrel” with the city staff report’s findings.

He was one of eight delegations to speak.

Two residents spoke against the plan, focusing on the process and the way it was handled, and the fact the plan does not revitalize the southwest corner of Main and Queen Streets, but is spread around.

Resident Chris Bejnar spoke at length, criticizing the process and the cost, questioning the financial analysis, and suggesting Morguard put in a half-hearted proposal.

“If I was Morguard’s president, I’d be furious,” he said.

He said councillors should declare a conflict of interest if they received campaign donations from any of the companies involved.

He also criticized the senior staff members who were on the Evaluation Committee, some of whom don’t live in Brampton, he said.

“Let’s take a step back in order to move forward again,” he said.

Resident Doug Bryden also questioned the costs, the locations, and the idea that it will actually act as a catalyst for more development.

“I was really hoping this would be a Hallelujah moment,” said Bryden, noting it had taken a long time. “I am deeply disappointed by the results.”

He asked for a deferral of 30 days for more public input and consideration, or, for councillors to turn it down and immediately call another, traditional RFP.

He said the development should be both “transformational and foundational.”

He said the city deserves more than the Dominus proposal.

Some of the audience members applauded his speech.

Applause were also heard for Brampton Downtown Development Corporation Chair Don Naylor who urged councillors to “show leadership” and approve the plan.

Ed Upenieks, of Lawrence Lawrence Stephenson called it a “knock-your-socks-off” proposal, and Michael Luchenski, also of Lawrences, called it creative and extraordinary and said the fact the land his law firm sits on will not be expropriated is good news.

Luchenski compared the cost to a mortgage, where the purchase price is not the final cost, after debt servicing, maintenance and other costs are paid through a period of time.

“We urge you to take that step,” Luchenski concluded, also to applause.

A Mill Street resident residents are struggling and unhappy with city spending.

“I’m opposed to this elaborate plan,” she said.

Phase 1

• 9 storey building at 41 George St. with second-storey link to Phase 1A;

• 5 levels of parking with 446 spaces;

• 126,400 square feet of administrative office space;

• 1,000 square feet of meeting/committee rooms;

• police station (1,496 square feet);

• 10,150 square feet of ground floor retail.

Phase 1A

• 3 storey addition to existing city hall;

• 1,000 square feet of meeting/committee rooms;

• 6,187 square feet of retail space;

• landscape courtyard beside Queen Street.

Phase 2

• replace parking garage at 20 George St. with 10 storey building;

• 130,000 square foot library;

• 4,000 square feet of ground floor retail;

• 360 underground parking spaces.

Phase 3

• 8 storey building replaces existing Four Corners Branch of the library at 65 Queen St. E.;